


stranger than love or loss

by afrocurl



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Class Differences, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, First Kiss, First Time, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:52:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles just wants to get through the weeks of Spring heat. Only life has other plans, especially with he meets a poor omega who can't find anyone else around.</p><p>What comes next is a story of highs and lows as well as some self-actualization.</p>
            </blockquote>





	stranger than love or loss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikeracity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikeracity/gifts).



> The first parts were originally posted here and here, though there have been changes made to those two sections in this final version. 
> 
> This started as a gift, and then grew into something else (as is normal).

Spring blooms just beyond the windows of Charles’ home and it only reminds him that along with the warming weather will come a few weeks of pure hell at school.

He's gotten used to how heat affects all of the omegas; it happened last semester for his classmates and those ahead of him, and they all got through it, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Everyone, collectively, loses their shit - the omegas feeling the desperate need for an alpha to get them through heat and the alphas all hoping that some omega will catch their scent quick enough to be bonded. Charles just likes to stay in the library and walk to class and ignore everyone else, as best he can. It’s harder and harder as the days progress when any omega could walk up to him and hope that they are a match, but it hadn’t happened before and he hopes it won’t happen again.

But as he looks out across the lawn, his body quickly turns from the sights beyond him to the door; it’s unexpected to be drawn away from the placid picture. There’s a pull - something so unfamiliar but at the same time so right - that all but forces Charles from the second floor library and down to the nearly empty kitchen. Nearly empty, save for a young man about Charles’ age, shocked into silence on the floor.

The young man smells like the few omegas he knows at school, and he’s shaking as if he’s not only scared but starting his heat.

“Can I help you?” Charles asks, realizing that there’s no one else to help the boy, even though all of his sex-ed classes have insisted that alphas stay away from omegas just in heat until the omega chooses with whom to bond. Too bad that doesn’t work when his senses told him to come down here and there is no one else present.

“No,” the young man whispers, still shaking. “Mamma will be back soon. She went to unpack our luggage.”

“Is your mother the new maid?” 

Charles sees a small nod in answer, and tries to stay where he can keep from spooking him anymore. “Can you tell me your name? I can go find her for you if you’d like.”

“Erik,” is the reply that Charles barely hears, Erik’s voice so small.

“Okay, Erik. I’m going to see if I can find your mother. You’ll be fine for now, I promise. No one else is here right now.”

“Thank you,” Erik says before he curls against the stone floor, covering his face with his hands. Charles smells more of Erik’s pheromones - tries to resist staying at Erik’s side and rut against him - and runs off to find the newest maid.

-

Rushing from the kitchen up the tiny stairwell of the servants’ quarters had been something Charles enjoyed as a young boy, but at nearly seventeen, he had left such explorations behind. Now, the whole area feels ghostly and foreign. 

Charles knocks on as many doors as he can, hearing no reply before he sees one door left ajar. Peeking in through the crack, the newest maid is hard at work unpacking luggage when Charles nearly barges through the door. 

He pushes into the space with no qualms about disturbing her work, loud as he is. “Excuse me. I think your son is in the kitchen and he’s just started his heat, ma’am. I know I shouldn’t be around him, but I didn’t want him to be alone either.”

The woman looks up, a shocked expression on her face before she says, “Thank you. I’ll be down there soon. Will you follow me?”

Charles tries to look at the ground to avoid answering. “That might not be wise, ma’am. I’m an alpha.”

“Nonsense, dear. You came to get me, which is better than anyone else I know right now. I’m sure Erik would like to have another face he recognizes through this heat - you know that bondings are stronger when there’s some familiarity, even only a few hours.” She stops putting away clothes and finally looks at him.

“Now, shall we go...” she starts, and Charles is smart enough to fill in the blank.

“Charles, ma’am.”

A faint blush appears on her face at the name, and Charles wants to run away. He hates when the staff finally realize who he is, but right now he can’t avoid it. “Well, let’s see how Erik’s doing now, Charles,” she says with a firm voice and nearly knocks Charles down from where he’s standing.

Charles isn’t sure what to expect next, but he vaguely knows that he’ll finally understand what heat means in practice rather than theory. There is nothing in his mind that tells him he won’t be bonded to Erik within minutes, especially since the young man’s mother seems to pay no attention to Charles’ pheromones.

Charles’ mind tries to understand how a mother could be so quick to bond her son to another young man - a young man who has had a drastically different life than they must have had until this point. Mother would never allow Charles that freedom; in fact so far she’s been pleased that no one has bonded to him yet because she can keep their blue blood status.

“You seem to at ease about this,” he says as they leave the small space of her room.

“Long ago, I was like Erik, and I found that my parents tried to fight my initial bonding. It did them no good. I didn’t think Erik was an omega, but I know that whatever is meant to happen should. Nature runs in course as it wants, and if you two are not compatible, the bond will be broken in less than a year.”

He watches her face as they walk into the kitchen and just before they enter, there’s a faint crinkle of her eyes and a pinch in her smile. She must be accepting of this, even if she’s concerned. If she’s trying to look pleased to appease Charles, he wants to tell her she can stop, but just as he thinks to say anything, she looks at her son and gasps.

 

*

The floor does nothing to calm his mind. If anything, the cool tile makes everything worse; the marble pressing against patches of skin so hot he can’t take it. He squirms against them, trying to keep his skin well away, but all it does is make the jolts of pain shift from arms to back to stomach. He just wants everything to be over now.

In the larger context, he’s also surprised. He never had a thought that he wouldn’t be an alpha - his physique and bold as brass attitude - but maybe there’s just something fundamentally aggressive in him that doesn’t translate into biology at all.

He doesn’t want to think about any of that as he continues to roll against the floor, still looking for some measure of comfort. Instead, he tries to think of what Mamma is going to say to him. Surely she’ll be disappointed - he knows that she always wanted an alpha around after Papa died. She must want someone to carry on the family name. He hates himself a bit as he feels his body finally react to Charles’ lingering pheromones. The young man is not someone Erik would have thought to find at school - Charles has delicate features: not just his small frame, but a boyish face with rounded cheeks and wide trusting eyes, to be someone that would hang out with Erik - but as he thinks back to the wide smile, those blue eyes, and a voice that calmed him just a fraction, Erik feels momentarily serene in a way that’s too foreign. 

He’s scared of feeling like that all the time. He’s done so well living on rage - battling against families who overwork Mamma for low wages, battling against societal rules that tell him Mamma can’t do a good job raising him without an alpha - but as he thinks of Charles there’s no edge to his thoughts, no boiling emotions that threaten to split him wide. He wants something else entirely.

He tries to remember the scent; he wants to follow it just as much as he wants to run from it. Erik’s never been good at keeping friends, even now towards the end of high school. He’s gruff and insistent and those qualities are not what makes a good omega - he’s learned that over and over again in school sex education classes. He’s not good with children, so how he is supposed to raise one? Omegas are meant to be nurturing and docile, and Eriks he has no propensity for either of those traits.

Those thoughts feel like self-denial, he thinks, but he knows that he’s less than he was just hours before. Chasing those feelings away, he tries to curl into himself: to hide from Mamma and Charles and everything else he knows.

Just as he feels comfortable, though, he hears footsteps and slowly sees Mamma’s shoes and Charles’ too.

“Go away,” he says, his voice cracking as he tries to be forceful. He will be strong through this whole process, even if that makes Charles want to run away from him.

“Erik, dear, we can’t. You need someone with you.” Her voice is a beacon and he opens his eyes to look at her. She’s next to him on the floor, and he can’t think of how she found the time to sit next to him when he just saw her feet seconds before. Maybe heat makes you lose track of time, though he can’t remember any class saying that before.

“I don’t want this,” he tries again. He just wants to hide. He wants to never know this feeling in his stomach - the lurch of pure want - he wants to avoid. He’s good at hiding in plain sight when the time is right, yet right now he’s on display, desperate and demanding, in turn defiant and determined.

“We should get him into a room.” Charles’ voice sounds softer than it had before, but just thinking of Charles’ voice makes Erik shift, letting out a breathy moan as he does. “We have plenty of rooms upstairs if you’d rather he be alone, ma’am.”

Erik wants nothing like that at all, but he can’t seem to find his voice, his mind simply pushes away everything else but the feeling of want that’s stronger now and the way his body is responding to Charles. He tries to move closer to where he thinks Charles is standing, but his mother pulls at his shoulders. “Stay here,” she says.

He feels something slick between his thighs and whimpers.

“I think he’s going to need someone to stay with him. I’m useless here as old omegas are not what young omegas need in times like these. I know this bond might not last more than three heats, but Erik needs an alpha with him,” his mother says as she tries to put his head on her thighs again, even as he tries to move towards the other boy’s voice. She tries to find the spot on his back that always eases him down, but she misses as Erik’s body tries to shy away from anyone that isn’t an alpha. “Charles found you, and came to find me. Isn’t what all you need to know?” she asks.

“I--” Charles starts, but stops. “I’ll help him through this. He can stay with me. If you don’t mind, Erik? There’s no one else our age in the house right now.”

“Erik? Does that sound okay? Charles will stay with you, but only if you want him to.”

His brain finally lets him speak. “Yes,” he says just before he looks up at Charles and smiles. He hates himself for smiling, but something about Charles makes him do everything that he’s never wanted to do before.

“Let’s get you up then, and we’ll all walk. Is that what you want?” His mother’s voice is calm, and he desperately wants to ask why she’s so calm with what is happening. She should be more nervous about Charles - about everything - and instead she’s the opposite of that. There’s a smile on her face and it makes Erik feel a bit better about situations being what they are, but he’s still scared.

He nods again, not trusting his voice because Charles, who moved down to his level, has his hand against Erik’s hip. It only makes Erik wetter when he finally stands.

Charles’ whole body makes Erik want to gasp, mewl, whimper and whine, but he doesn’t know if that’s what he should do. He can’t trust his body at all; his brain warring with his natural responses to flee.

He loses his mind in the close feeling of Charles’ body against his and walks tucked against the boy who could be his forever. He wants to shout against the union, but as he thinks to say anything, Charles’ hand settles on the small of Erik’s back and the thought vanishes.

He loses track of time, because the next thing he knows, he’s on Charles’ bed and Charles is looking at him with a quizzical eye. He feels like Charles is judging him and all it makes him want to do is cry. He’s not a perfect omega, he can tell, and he never will be. Instead of looking at Charles, Erik tries to take in the room: Charles has a laptop sitting closed on the dresser next to his cell phone and a few textbooks. It only distracts him for a moment before he focuses back on what’s about to happen.

Tears start to fall without Erik knowing why, but the small beads of water tell him that he’s feeling and wanting something for the first time. Foreign as the tears are, Erik’s mind starts to tell him that Charles is his and that there is nothing wrong, and though he wants to deny everything, he says nothing - his body incapable.

Charles’ expression, when Erik manages to open his eyes and see through tears, is soft. Careful. Cautious.

“It’s okay,” Charles murmurs, shifting closer to Erik’s body as he does. Charles’ hand come to rest on Erik’s back and it makes Erik want to stop crying. “You’re beautiful,” Charles whispers. “We’ll get through this.”

Charles sounds so sure, and Erik wants to believe him because he wants to be good. He wants, well, he wants _everything_ right now. He shifts closer to Charles, tries to bring his head onto Charles’ thigh, but Charles stills him.

Charles wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb. Erik’s body wiggles away, afraid of the intimacy, but Charles moves to cover Erik, forcing Erik to look into Charles’ eyes.

“Let’s do something else first,” Charles tries, looking at Erik’s body like it’s something precious. “You’re flushed and sweating. Let’s get you out of your clothes.”

Erik vaguely feels Charles’ hands against his jeans and shirt before there’s cool air against Erik’s entire body. He shifts, feeling too cold and too hot at the same time. There’s slick about to fall onto the duvet, but Erik doesn’t care because he’s so alight with something heady that Erik wants to stay like this forever. 

“We’re almost done,” Charles says instead of addressing Erik’s movement, but just as he wants to say that he never wants to be done, one of Charles’ hands ghosts against the elastic of his boxer-briefs. 

A gasp escapes his lips again, and Erik tries to follow the increase of pleasure that cuts through him. “One more minute,” Charles says while sliding Erik’s underwear off. Erik’s unsure how Charles knows all of this, but there must be something in the way of the bond that makes any alpha - his alpha - so secure.

There’s a lack of Charles’ presence just after he feels the cotton at his ankles and he whimpers again, this time at the lack of contact. He never knew that all that talk about omega’s needing an alpha was true, but now he understands. He hates himself for being so connected to a boy he barely knows, but Charles’ scent is a lure that Erik thinks he’ll chase for his life now, drawn to it as he is.

He needs Charles in a way that he hadn’t thought possible before. Just out of Erik’s direct line of sight, Charles wrestles with his own clothes, awkward clanks of a belt and an “Oof!” followed by Charles’ disappearance from Erik's vision all together.

A minute later, Charles reappears - closer now - and Erik looks down at what Charles is like under the khakis and button-down shirt. There’s no definition to Charles’ stomach, unlike Erik’s own, but Charles seems perfectly content with his appearance. Erik wants to reach out, wants to touch Charles again, but Charles is still too far away.

“Charles,” Erik says as he feels more slick between his legs and he finally looks at his erection, red and leaking.

“I’m here,” he says before he finally rejoins Erik on the bed. 

Charles telegraphs everything from then on, exaggerated movements that should be a turnoff, but only make Erik want him more. This all feels like too much, but not enough. Charles’ hands are cautious as they trail along Erik’s flank, chest and stomach. 

“Let’s try this first,” Charles says when he moves his face closer to Erik’s. Erik’s never been kissed before, and he tries to open his mouth for Charles before he feels a finger against his lips. “We’ll work up to that.”

Erik tries to whine in protest - which is something he wants to erase after; he doesn’t whine - but Charles’ lips meet his and he moans instead. Charles is tentative, but as Erik’s lust makes him push up to meet Charles more forcefully, Charles complies. The kisses grow deeper - mouths open, teeth clicking, tongues battling, and it all makes Erik’s mind go blank from spiked pleasure.

It takes no time at all for Charles to know what makes Erik writhe and moan, just as it takes no time for Erik to feel Charles’ own erection against his outer thigh.

“Please,” Erik says as Charles nips at his collarbone, the two of them having moved beyond kissing lips to lips. “I’m--” he starts, but fails to finish when one of Charles’ hands pulls at Erik’s erection. He tries to reach out to bring Charles between his legs, to have that warmth and presence on top of him instead of to the side.

“Just a while longer. You’re not going to be able to take me if I knot you right now.”

The idea of Charles knotting him on his first heat makes Erik’s hip buck upwards, more need coursing through his veins. He wants to hate himself for wanting to be bred so soon, but Charles _feels_ right with him, and anything less will never count. 

“You don’t,” Charles starts, but stops as he moves his hand from Erik’s erection to his legs. There’s a short push on one of Erik’s inner thighs before he’s spread open, wide and inviting for Charles. His legs take Charles’ suggestion, and the feeling of being laid bare both scares and excites him. He cannot stop his mind from its back-and-forth struggle, but lust and heat seem to have the upper hand over his other responses.

Erik wants nothing more than for Charles to finally push inside and as he wants more and more, he fails to notice Charles’ finger pushing through the slick at his hole and into him.

“Fuck!” Erik nearly screams as Charles works one digit in and out before he adds another. Erik tries to grab at Charles, looking for more friction, more contact, more of everything. He’s lost in his heat, so desperate he’s on the verge of confessing his undying love for a fuck.

“Soon enough,” is all Charles says, though Erik doesn’t need to hear anything from Charles right now; the pure lust and want in him is cresting more and more as Charles works him up.

A quick scissored move from Charles and Erik moans, low and hoarse. “More,” he pleads. Charles shifts from Erik’s tentative grip, and it feels like a betrayal - to be so close to his alpha and yet so far away.

Absence greets his demand and just as Erik wants to look down and see what’s wrong, Charles pushes three fingers in, works more of Erik’s slick over them as he pulls out and then back in, drawing more and more of the slick out and around. He feels some across his thighs and bucks his hips to meet Charles’ movements. He needs so much more than he has now and his body reacts as if he has no higher brain power.

When Erik thinks he can’t wait another minute, he pushes up hard and Charles’ hand stops.  
“Please. It’s too much. It’s not enough.” He’s not making sense, he knows, but his body’s signals are jumbled and dissonant.

Charles’ fingers slip back inside quickly, and then he pulls them out with a soft pop. Erik wants to whimper - again - but then he feels Charles’ shifting and then he’s face to face with Charles between his legs. He shifts more to help Charles settle and lolls his head for a moment to catch his breath and school his emotions. Charles’ weight against him feels _perfect_ and he stills himself before Charles’ cock pushes against him.

It’s a slow process for Charles to settle in, but once Charles has bottomed out, Erik can’t tell up from down, pleasure overtaking everything.

He moans as Charles shifts and nearly comes from one languid push back from Charles.

“Stay with me,” Charles says before he sets his own pace, leaving Erik to babble nonsense, moan and whine as he goes.

When he thinks he can’t take anymore, Erik starts to open his mouth only to feel something change inside. Pressure builds where Charles last pushed and Charles ruts faster and faster as he comes and knots Erik at the same time.

In the recesses of his mind he knows that being knotted on the first day of heat is not frequent. He feels proud as he takes Charles’ knot and pushes back against Charles, needing more and more of Charles’ seed. Just more of Charles. Period.

He loves the feeling of being filled by Charles, the way that Charles’ hips work frantically as Charles’ mouth nips and sucks at Erik’s chest, his neck. Pinpricks of pleasure-pain overwhelm him when he realizes that Charles is seeking out more and more of Erik. Claiming Erik just as Erik’s body claims Charles. 

He thinks he should do the same, but Charles’ weight shifts too often and Charles’ movements are so erratic that he can’t find a place to mark his alpha. Erik tries when Charles is closer to his face, but Charles moves to bite against the other side Erik’s neck, and Erik wants to say something just before Charles pushes back harder than before.

Feeling content, he finds Charles’ eyes, and watches Charles rutting into him with more force. It feels like Charles has been buried deep in him for hours, but that doesn’t feel like long enough at all.

Erik comes hard and fast when one of Charles’ hands comes back to stroke his own erection, still red and ready from before. He wonders briefly how he managed to stay so hard for so long, but forgets the rest of the thought as Charles continues to stroke him, letting more and more of his semen splash between them.

All around him, Erik feels some of the pleasure fade.

He’s survived.

*

Charles knows that heats can vary in length from three to seven days, but watching Erik’s pained expression at the start of day five both hurts him and fills him with pride and wonder. 

They have been separated from everyone else, save for a few maids who have dropped off food and water along with changes of sheets and other necessary supplies; Erik’s mother has never been one of them and he desperately hopes that Mother hasn’t fired the other woman, but there hasn’t been time for him to check. In their time together, Charles has learned that Erik is partial to science fiction and action than reality television and soap operas, and that when Erik isn’t desperate to feed his lust, he’s thoughtful and determined.

Erik’s body has grown used to the spikes in arousal, Charles knows, but still, Erik’s plaintive voice cries out just as dawn breaks through the windows of Charles’ room. Erik has warred against the pull of their newly formed bond each time - both needing to be as close to Charles as possible and also wanting to deny his own body’s responses to Charles’ pheromones and hormones.

“Shh,” he says to Erik, placing a kiss against Erik’s throat as he pulls at Erik’s growing erection, this time with lubricant to prevent any lasting damage. They have been up half the night already, Erik’s body still seeking more time to be claimed and bonded permanently. It makes Charles think if all of Erik’s future heats will last this long, or if this is a result of Erik’s first heat after being around too many incompatible alphas until now.

“Everyone knows,” is all Erik can say in reply before he bucks his hips as Charles takes some of the slick from Erik’s body to coat his fingers. There’s a hint of shame in what Erik says, but Charles knows that that is more of Erik’s warring mind than his resistance to sex.

“That’s not the point right now. Everyone’s still sleeping.” Charles pushes one finger in, still knowing that Erik’s well prepared, and had been for so long. Charles wants to offer as much support and encouragement as he can, because Erik is his now and could be forever. He wants to start their relationship off with as much equality as possible - he doesn’t want Erik to feel beholden to him and he doesn’t want to control all of Erik’s movements after this.

Charles still wants to make Erik feel good, however, and so he spends time kissing everywhere Erik has liked so far: his neck and collarbones, just below his nipples, at his hip flexors, just at the start of his pubic hair.

All the work leaves Erik wanton and exposed and just as Charles hears Erik’s voice pitch, Charles settles himself between Erik’s legs and pushes in.

Even now, the feel of Erik around his cock spurs Charles’ body into action. It’s not just a physical reaction to Erik - _his_ omega - but the idea of being responsible for and to another person. This is good for each of them; Erik’s body needing the time to react to Charles’ pheromones and Charles’ body needing to work as hard to bring another life into the world.

Until now, his life has been lonely - isolated as he and his family are in the mansion on the outskirts of town. He’s never warmed to most of his peers at school, but as he rocks back and forth against Erik’s body -pushing deeper and deeper into Erik - Charles thinks that _this_ \- being bonded and mated to another person - is what might turn his life around. 

He knows that not all bondings last - his father died too soon - but there’s something in Erik’s eyes when they aren’t together that speaks of a deeper connection. There’s room still for Erik to be unsure, but Charles will come to that moment _if_ it happens. There may be two more heats to finalize their relationship or a pregnancy, Charles knows; for now, he wants to live in the moment, to give Erik the perfect alpha.

“What do you need?” he asks when he’s able, slowing his movements to let the two of them talk without panting through each word.

“Harder,” is Erik’s reply, and as Charles complies, and rocks harder and harder, Charles feels Erik’s muscles constrict around him and hears Erik scream in pleasure. Charles falls just after Erik’s cries, spattering beads and beads of spunk against their skin, and while Charles doesn’t knot Erik again, he thinks that this is something special. If Kurt and Mother’s marriage is the standard Charles has known, then he’ll gladly take everything that separates he and Erik from them.

*

The pull of his body has subsided - finally! - and Erik’s mind finally tries to sort itself into order and the new life he has here.

He’s bonded and claimed now - Charles’ seed having filled him for a week and Charles’ strong bite against his neck the signs that matter to everyone else.

So far, everyone in the house has gathered in one of the many sitting rooms to discuss further details.

“Erik should live with me,” Charles says, as if it’s as natural as breathing. His mother gasps, but says nothing. Charles’ stepfather simply glares and mutters something.

Mamma agreed quickly, though. “It’s important that the newly bonded grow to know each other. After Jakob found me during my heat, we didn’t leave each other’s side for weeks. I know it’s awkward, but it’s...” She trails off because she can and Erik wanted to fight with her, but he thinks she knows better. Erik has never asked questions about how or when his parents met, but he remembers their easy and happy smiles at each other before Papa died in a work accident. Charles’ mother and stepfather continue to let their silence speak of them, though they look affronted at Erik’s presence beside Charles on one of the couches.

“All parents should watch their children find their match. Some are grateful of the bond, while others fight against it, but in the end, it’s the life you two have that will decide everything else. I saw a bitter fight against my own bond and I know the damage it can cause.” She all but stares her employers down, and if her words aren’t clear enough, Charles’ mother coughs and looks at her expensive watch.

After another few minutes of awkward silence, he walks with Mamma to collect his meager assortment of clothes and trinkets. There’s still a nervous feeling at staying in Charles’ room, being a part of Charles’ space, but he tries to push it aside and follow some of his mother’s words: he can fight the bond or let it run its course.

Charles’ room is more than big enough for two people, but just as he thinks about sharing Charles’ bed outside of heat, he thinks that he’s lost a part of himself. He’s now _with_ someone - someone that will be at his side until one of them dies. He never imagined that before - though he must have at some point - because that’s what life was meant to be like. It feels strange, however. 

Without his father around, Erik has been trying to protect and look after his mother, despite her age and status trying to do the same. She’s tried - her job for the Xaviers the latest measure in a string of unsuccessful jobs - but she should have had Erik’s help. They could have been a team, working together. Instead, she’s in the servants’ wing and he’s with the heir to the mansion.

Thinking of her, Erik wonders if he’ll lose all of his independence as the other half of Charles Xavier, scion of a fortune estimated at over three billion dollars. There hasn’t been any time for them to exist as a couple outside of his heat, but the first place he and Charles will be together is at Charles’ school on Monday. Charles has already warned him that there will be phones everywhere as they walk in, flashes likely to go off at their arrival. Gossip, Erik knows, is something that can’t be avoided in high school, and based on all of Charles’ previous conversations, their school thrives on it.

It raises his hackles that Charles missed school for him, but as he thinks of their time together, he also feels secure again. Charles has been a generous partner, asking about Erik’s newly developed preferences and trying to make their time together easy. That extended outside of sex, when Charles made sure to know and understand what Erik liked and didn’t like.

Safe is not what he wants. Erik wants independence.

He can’t have that if he’s going to be dependant on Charles’ seed for another heat, whenever that may be. He’s still not sure if their time together was successful - per society’s standards - but there are still weeks to go before there might be any any indications of a pregnancy or of the bond lasting the minimum length of three heats.

Their room is eerily silent with Charles downstairs catching up on his homework. It’s odd now, after a week, to miss the sound of Charles’ gentle laugh and his encouragement. Charles’ touch was firm, but not demanding, and right now Erik ponders if he’ll ever tire of Charles’ hands against his waist or the small of his back. If hands clasping together will be something Erik fears rather than cherishes; even though the gesture is far from intimate compared to what they have done in their room, it has all the trappings of being together, being permanent.

Erik tries to shake the thoughts away; he has little use to feel so attached to Charles so soon. Bonds are meant to develop months after the first coupling, but Erik’s almost sure that he and Charles have something else.

Something that he wants to scream and fight against, for wanting Charles and needing Charles - both of those make him weak.

Weak is not what Erik has ever wanted to be, but since his mother accepted this job, it seems that his life has changed in so many ways.

*

Erik has said that he is no weakling, but Charles wants to say otherwise as he feels Erik’s arm brushing one of his as they walk, hand in hand, into school.

Mrs. Lehnsherr had made no complaints when Erik moved into Charles’ room - in fact she was encouraging and sounded pleased - and even though Kurt had yelled at the idea of Erik going to Charles’ school, Charles would have nothing else. His bonded would not be denied an education because he wasn’t part of the Xavier family, yet. 

Erik, he has learned, is bright and inquisitive, and will fit right in with Charles at his school, no matter if Erik’s previous school was not as academically demanding as Charles’ school. Charles would help Erik out as much as necessary, though he also knows that Erik wants to maintain his independence. That feeling of being Erik being his own person, right now, is secondary, Charles realizes, as the eyes of all the school bore into the two of them. 

There are murmurs and whispers as they climb the stairs and Erik pushes closer to Charles. Charles resists the urge to hold Erik’s waist, because it seems bold enough that Erik choose to walk at Charles’ side at all. There are flashes, as Charles predicted, and they must be making Erik more nervous.

“You’ll do fine,” he whispers and grabs at Erik’s hand. He squeezes and hopes that Erik will relax into his touch as Erik had done last week. “You’re in all of my classes - we arranged that - and everyone’s already figured out that we’re together.”

Erik shoots him an odd look and then Charles says, “My friends filled me in while we were _occupied_. They can’t wait to meet you, by the way.”

Erik stops dead and Charles almost tugs Erik’s arm out of its socket before he catches himself, steeling himself against Erik’s shock. He turns back around and pushes up just enough to place a kiss to Erik’s cheek. His hand squeezes again and all Charles hopes is that it will do enough to calm Erik’s mind.

“How’d you find someone, Xavier? Who’s stupid enough to want to be fucked by such a loser?” Victor Creed asks, the voice carrying so everyone outside can hear.

Charles ignores everyone and continues to walk towards the doors, and he feels Erik following him. He’s not sure if Erik truly wants to follow at Charles’ heels, but for now, it’s all that they can do. Victor’s ire has always been a problem for Charles, and the other boy is one reason why Charles has contented himself with the library.

In a quiet moment, Charles hopes that he can explain all of the school gossip to Erik in short order so that their time together here for another year and some months will not be as painless possible.

*

School with Charles, like everything else with Charles, has been an adjustment. There’s still a part of Erik’s mind that wants to fight at the way he feels when he and Charles are alone, but that part has dimmed over the weeks.

They share kisses easily in between classes and outside of Erik’s heat, he’s found that they are just as attracted to each other as they were under the haze of amplified pheromones. Sex is not something that they have time for every day, but Erik’s body is more and more sated with the feel of Charles’ cock inside him, just as Erik appreciates Charles sucking him dry some mornings. They fit, and his mind has adjusted to the fact that this is real; he still worries about his life as a person outside of Charles’ influence, but the days when he finds his brain going there are fewer and fewer.

But the jeers haven’t stopped now that Charles has been bonded and Erik hears more than enough about how he must be a horrible omega to have fallen for Charles; rumors make their way to Erik that no one thought Charles was an alpha at all or that Charles was infertile. He ignores them as best he can, because Charles and he are together, but the jokes are worse when they aren’t next to each other.

Through some odd twist of fate, Erik wasn’t put in Charles’ PE class, though they are in the same period. It means that he and Charles spent the time farther away than normal. It also means that everyone who wants to belittle Charles takes the time to also tease and mock Erik. Without asking, he’s sure that Charles has similar comments directed at him, but they never mention the difficulties for being bonded and Charles’ social status at school. One of the many unspoken rules, Erik supposes.

“So what’s Xavier like in bed? I bet he didn’t even knot you,” some kid says, just as he tries to take Erik down on their opening lap around the track.

Erik says nothing, pushing harder and harder to run past this idiot, but he’s not quick enough. 

“Didn’t you hear me? What’s Xavier like in bed? I bet he couldn’t get it up for you, but stayed home so no one would know.”

At that, Erik loses his temper; he punches the kid in the face, as square as he can against the other boy’s jaw, and then sets to work on landing punches at ribs and stomach. Erik knows he shouldn’t do that - he’s not the one who should need protecting - but Erik’s been tired of saying nothing for as long as he’s been on campus. He never told Charles about the emails that flood into Erik’s inbox, or the way that his PE class constantly belittled them because Charles seems to pay attention to the jeers of people who make of him.

Their PE teacher arrives, almost too late, Erik thinks when he finally looks at the boy who decided to deride Charles’ prowess as an alpha. The boy’s face is bruised and there’s blood splattered over his shirt. Erik knows that Charles doesn’t have the standard look or attitude of most alphas, but in his own way, Charles is exactly what Erik needs. Erik needs someone to quiet his rage and someone to show him that kindness can be given freely and not be earned.

But he also knows that Charles abhors violence and will hate Erik for having resorted to punching this nobody for Charles’ honor. In no time at all, Erik sees Charles’ long face as Erik waits for his mother to arrive. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Charles says when he sits next to Erik at the principal’s office.

“I did. It wouldn’t stop until one of us did something.” It’s a weak excuse, but it’s the only thing he’s been able to understand in the month he’s been here.

Charles gives him a look that says there might be another way before saying, “I think there’s something we can do.”

Erik feels his hand being pulled away from his body, as Charles leads him into one of the boys’ restrooms. Inside, Charles examines underneath the stalls and then pushes Erik against one of the metal walls. “You could have hurt yourself,” Charles says before he starts to suck against Erik’s neck.

“But you don’t mind it, do you?” Erik asks, breaths hitching at Charles’ possessive display. He tries to move his hands against Charles’ flanks and moans when Charles bites down particularly hard against his neck. “Everyone’s going to hear us,” Erik says, though he knows it sounds ragged and strained after Charles’ ministrations.

“That’s exactly the point,” Charles manages to say before he moves his hands from Erik’s shoulders to Erik’s pants, unzipping his jeans and palming at Erik’s growing hardness.

Erik’s brain stops producing rational thought then, his own arousal growing at Charles’ ministrations. He’s aware enough to feel Charles’ own erection against his, and their thrusts are fast and frenzied, but exactly what Erik wants right now.

He cannot control his moans and screams as Charles takes him hard and fast, and when they come out of the bathroom later, the principal and Mamma are right outside the door. The principal looks like he wants to murder both he and Charles while a few students are lurking around looking for confirmation of what just happened. The principal walks them back to his office and Mamma sits in front of the door, sighing as she looks over he and Charles before adjusts Erik’s collar. She looks as though she understands, but Erik certainly doesn’t want to ask how or why.

*

With school out for the summer, Charles has all the time to start to memorize Erik’s habits. He knows from experience, that Erik hates brussel sprouts, prefers explosive actions films to the classics, runs when feeling stressed and wakes up far too early.

But for the last two weeks, Erik’s been slower to get up in the morning; Erik’s more content to nestle against Charles’ embrace in sleep than before. Erik’s also spending longer in the bathroom, taking longer and longer showers. Erik’s runs are less frequent than they were during the school year, even though there is more than enough time for them.

Charles can’t say that he minds that Erik’s less focused, but it is different all the same. 

Beyond those things, Charles notices that Erik stays closer to Charles all day long. As if there’s some _other_ pull that binds them. Legally they aren’t married, and won’t be until they get through either three heats or a pregnancy, but that means little to Charles most days. Erik is an Xavier, even if not legally so, and the household staff knows that just as well as the school staff does.

Today, Charles wants to spend his time looking at the beginning of his AP Lit homework, and the library is the best place to look at some of the books on the recommended AP reading list.

Erik’s sitting near Charles, and reading his own book for the assignment, though he seems more restless than normal.

“Something wrong?” Charles asks and just after he does, his mind catches something else in Erik’s own pheromones and hormones; the scent that Erik gives off is different than it was just as school let out, but only by a little.

He waits for Erik to say something, though no response comes. It takes Charles another few minutes to think about when Erik arrived and that Erik should have had another heat in the coming weeks. There’s nothing in Charles’ brain that can sense that Erik’s anywhere near having another heat.

“Shouldn’t you have your heat soon?” Charles asks, hoping that Erik will answer.

In reply, Erik shrugs.

“Will you come here? I want to see something.” Charles hopes that Erik will comply and sit atop him in the armchair. Erik does, and as soon as Erik is near Charles, everything is clear. The scent, now that he can take it in more closely, is not the scent that omegas have before a heat, but the scent as their body starts to ready for the life inside.

“I think there’s something you and I need to discuss.”

*

Erik hates to admit that Charles was the first one to know that they were to expect a child. He should have known his body well enough to know when to expect his next heat, but he had spent so much time fighting against everything he had with Charles that he didn’t pay attention. That was before he admitted that everything was fine and relished in the way that Charles cared for him, but he will never admit that to Charles.

Now, he has nothing to do but pay attention. Charles does the same, all but turning the house upside down to make sure Erik has everything he needs to make sure that the pregnancy goes without a hitch.

Now the house is constantly filled with fresh food, which the cooks have all been ordered to prepare exactly as Erik likes. Mama smiles at him every time she sees him and Erik thinks that he should talk to her about what to expect in the coming months. He certainly isn’t going to ask Charles’ mother, who still refuses to acknowledge him on most days. He never had that conversation just after heat about her easy acceptance, but he thinks now that he’s been around Charles that it makes sense; there must be an unspoken rule among omega parents to let nature play out as it wants. Even though he hasn’t seen her often in the last five months, he knows that she will want to help him through everything, especially now. There’s a difference between female and male omegas, to be sure, but there have to be similarities.

On the days when the baby is quiet in his womb, Erik enjoys the way that Charles looks at him. Charles has always been attentive, and it has only intensified. Charles almost never leaves Erik’s side, and when appropriate, Charles holds Erik’s hand or rubs Erik’s growing stomach. 

Now that they have a child on the way, Erik’s attitudes about their initial coupling have changed. He had long since accepted that sex with Charles wasn’t half bad, but now that there’s proof of their bonding being successful, he finds he can’t hate what happened to him. Charles doesn’t treat Erik as something inferior because he is carrying their child, and if anything, Charles has changed his whole life upside-down to make sure Erik is comfortable.

On the days when Erik can’t force himself to leave their room, Charles brings Erik a laptop and all the summer work he’s meant to finish. Charles sits at his side and does his work, and it feels peaceful.

When vacation’s nearly over, Charles calls the school to make arrangements for changes in Erik’s schedule. Erik wants to protest, but Charles simply gives him a look that says, ‘you will not endanger our child’ and Erik stops dead. Erik knows he could have done that for himself, but to watch Charles’ protective streak is to know that things will be good.

It’s harder for Erik to focus at school, though, and Erik hates when Charles’ focus on his studies suffers because Erik can’t find the energy to stay awake when they get home. 

One positive to the pregnancy, Erik finds, is that the rumors of Charles being a poor alpha stop dead in their tracks. No one can question Charles’ prowess when he was able to get Erik pregnant on their first heat. But that doesn’t mean that the school warms to either of them. They mostly keep to themselves, and the small group of Charles’ friends - Moira, Hank and Armando. 

The whole group organizes a tiny baby shower during lunch just before winter vacation, weeks before Erik’s due date.

He almost can’t sit through the whole period - the baby so insistent these days - but he smiles as best he can and accepts the series of green and yellow onesies and rattles.

After that display, the last few days of class are painful, not just because the baby kicks at least five times during some classes, but because Erik realizes that he’s going to be forced into home schooling in order to graduate at all. He can’t keep the baby at school, he knows, but Charles has also said that there is no question about not graduating.

Erik thinks, just as the baby kicks again, if Charles’ optimism will be something their child has.

Part of him hopes so.

*

It’s just before the Marko winter party, and Charles watches Erik carefully. The last few days have been difficult for Erik: his body taking more and more of their baby’s kicks. Just before Charles is to meet everyone else at the party, Erik screams, his face contorting in pain. He curls around himself, holding his rounded belly as he does and tries to say something through his screaming.

This scream is different from everything else they have been through so far, and Charles throws off his jacket and runs back towards the bed. The staff is all preparing for the party and Charles knows better than to try and find Mrs. Lehnsherr - and face Mother’s wrath - even if Erik would want it more than anything.

“What’s wrong?” he demands, watching as Erik’s face is caught in a pinched expression.

“Time,” is all Erik says when he can open his mouth without pain twisting his face.

From that moment on, Charles goes into a frenzy. Erik’s bag has been ready for days, for moment like this, but Charles needs to grab a few things for himself: a book if the labor is long, a change of clothes and all of Erik’s medical information. It takes him no time at all to gather those, and as he busies himself, Erik’s voice pitches and falls.

“Do you need to wait before we go downstairs? Or do I need to call an ambulance?” They hadn’t talked about anything like this happening, but he doesn’t want to do anything against Erik’s wishes.

“I can do it,” Erik says, voice still slightly pained. Charles walks with him slowly down the stairs and towards the back of the house and any of the family’s myriad cars. No one notices them, and for that Charles is glad. He’ll call when things are settled, especially since there’s no reason to interrupt the party.

Erik’s quick to enter Charles’ car and settles as quickly as he can through his discomfort.

The drive flies by, and it’s only when Charles is standing with Erik at the entrance does he remember they never called to warn Erik’s doctor.

That point doesn’t seem to matter as the staff hurries them up to the maternity ward as soon as Charles says his name.

From there, it’s a flurry of paperwork and questions for Charles as Erik is off in a private room being looked over. Charles dislikes being away from Erik at this moment, but he knows that it’s what needs to be done.

He waits outside, unsure if Erik wants him near him during the birth.

“Is Erik alright?” he asks one nurse who comes out of Erik’s room. She has a neutral expression, but she answers as politely as possible.

“He wants you in the room. The doctor’s on her way.”

Once he’s in Erik’s room, activity surrounds him: nurses making sure that Erik’s as comfortable as possible and then the doctor arrives.

“Quite a New Year’s surprise,” the doctor says before she checks Erik’s vitals and progress. “We’ll get Erik down into a proper room in a few minutes and then, Charles, you’re welcome to watch from the outside.”

Charles nods and sees that Erik looks worried. “You’ll be fine, and I’ll be watching from outside.”

There’s still worry all over Erik’s face and Charles does all he can do: press gentle kisses against Erik’s sweaty cheek and forehead.

From there, Charles watches Erik leave with the help of a few other nurses and follows them towards the waiting room above the delivery room. It’s almost a mercy that there’s no microphone in the room because Erik’s face looks so pained that Charles winces in sympathy.

It feels like hours later before everything Charles watches settles down and as soon as nearly everyone leaves the room, Charles sees Erik holding a tiny little bundle.

He sprints back to Erik’s previous room and waits. Minutes pass by and Erik still hasn’t returned. When he does, though, the small bundle in Erik’s arms is holding onto one of Erik’s fingers.

“It’s--” Charles starts.

“She’s wonderful,” Erik says. “We didn’t talk about names.”

Charles nods. “We didn’t, but it’s your choice, dear.”

Erik looks down at their daughter and says quietly: “Anya.”

“That sounds perfect,” is all Charles says before he moves a chair closer to Erik’s wheelchair. Anya’s eyes open and as she looks at Charles, Charles knows that everything will be fine.

Outside, the sounds of the New Year ringing in can be heard: poppers down the hall in a non-sterile room, noise makers from the nurses’ station. What a wonderful start to a year, Charles thinks just as Anya tries to grab one of his fingers.

 

*

Anya gurgles from beside Erik’s desk. At least she’s quiet today as he’s trying to work on his homework. Two days before, she cried all day long, as if she could tell that Charles wasn’t home. 

Still, it’s hard to study and take care of her, but he knows that Charles had already pulled so many strings to keep Erik on pace to graduate with everyone at school in the spring. The fact that Charles can be home with them two days a week is still a miracle to Erik.

Instead of focusing on all of the logistics of their schooling now, Erik tries to pay attention to the reading for his economics class. Without any teachers, school is harder than Erik wants, but he also knows that he can ask Charles when the school day is done.

There are still four hours until Charles will be home, but with Anya sleeping, Erik takes a moment to take a nap with her.

He moves from his desk to their bed with Anya next to him and settles in for a power nap. 

A gentle move of his shoulder wakes him, and he looks up to see Charles’ face. He wants to say something, but he can’t find the words.

“I took care of Anya’s diaper when I saw her fussing next to you. You needed the sleep.”

Erik knows Charles is right; last night had been the first time he and Charles had had sex since Anya’s birth, and while the night was outside of Erik’s heat, Erik knows that his next few heats will be less intense than his first. Biology’s natural response to a baby is to keep another one from coming too soon and while Erik longs for another spike in his lust and need for Charles, he’ll take whatever they can get until then.

He realizes now just how much he loves Charles and Anya. He wants to say it aloud, but his mouth is stopped from anything other than Charles’ lips against his.

Erik pulls away first and says, “Missed you.”

“And I you,” Charles says before he kisses Erik again. The kisses are insistent, and Erik feels his cock press against his pants.

“We can’t,” is all he can say, just as Charles moves to his neck.

Charles whines a bit, but pulls away. “You’re right.”

Erik tries to settle himself into a sitting position. “I am, and I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Economics.”

Charles walks to find the economics book and comes back to Erik’s side.

“So what was frustrating you?”

Erik sighs and starts to explain, just before he hopes that Anya’s sleeping again.

*

There are still three days until graduation and everything from the last year finally starts to catch up with Charles.

Just as he was watching Erik and Anya, there were college applications to finish off for both of them - thankfully there were bonded-pair applications available for all of Charles’ choices. NYU hadn’t been Charles’ first choice, but when he had asked Erik about their choices, Erik wanted to stay close to home when acceptances came in.

There is still the trouble of convincing Sharon to pay for an apartment. Charles knows that the student housing at NYU for bonded pairs with children are cramped, with minimal privacy. He’s been avoiding the conversation for weeks, because he’s been enjoying watching Anya grow and Erik being more and more comfortable with her.

Charles can’t walk away from the conversation now, because he knows that Erik wants his mother to move into the city with them. Unlike this last semester, there’s no way for Erik can miss going to classes because he needs to stay with Anya and they agree that putting her into childcare is too soon.

Edie had volunteered already and that means that not only will Charles need some of the family money for the apartment big enough for all of them, but also that Edie will be leaving the house.

So close to the end of school, Charles hopes that Mother will be in a good mood and that this will take no time at all. Surprisingly, Mother agrees to the stipend and letting Edie go, and Charles says nothing that might change her mind.

With that one stress over, Charles focuses on getting through the last days of school. Erik’s been allowed on campus with Anya to get through the rehearsals for the ceremony. Being with the two of them at school makes Charles feel elated. Without Erik on campus all this semester, and with everyone knowing that Erik had had their baby, things had been different. Creed and his ilk said nothing about Charles’ virility, but to be standing next to Erik has silenced everything else that might have been said.

Charles squeezes Erik’s hand and then kisses the top of Anya’s beanie before they settle into two seats to hear all about the order of the ceremony.

Anya starts to fuss in her baby bjorn, and Erik tries to bounce up and down in his seat for her. “She’ll be fine in a minute,” Erik says.

Charles doesn’t mind if she fusses the rest of the day. He’s just glad that they will be able to walk across the stage and graduate.

For a relationship that Charles never imagined having, he wants nothing more than to see the two of them succeed in anything that they do. Together, he’s sure that they can take on the world and change everything that tries to beat them down.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to both **kageillusionz** and **subtillor** for the beta help on this. Any remaining mistakes are mine alone.
> 
> Title nicked from a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club song "Weight of the World".


End file.
